Instruction

Book arts have been taught at UW-Madison since they were first introduced by Claire Van Vliet in 1965. From 1966 until his retirement in 1996, Walter Hamady, the faculty member most strongly associated with UW-Madison book arts, taught letterpress printing and hand papermaking with an emphasis on the production of well-crafted, text-based, editioned books. Many artists have taught book arts at UW-Madison. In recent years, faculty Jim Escalante (now emeritus) and Mary Hark (School of Human Ecology) have expanded both the facilities and range of book arts offerings at UW.

Supporting the Department of Art, libraries and their staff have been essential resources for book arts at UW, in particular, the Conservation Lab, the Silver Buckle Press, and the Department of Special Collections. Most importantly, the Kohler Art Library–whose first director, Bill Bunce, began collecting artists’ books in 1970–actively supports the curriculum with exhibitions, lectures, and hands-on instruction. A small portion of the 1200 items in Kohler’s Artists’ Book Collection is exhibited here.